Chamchela is a 43-foot Gitana, designed by Oswald Berckemeyer, and built in 1981 in Cape Town by One Ton Cup, with a racing hull and a cruising interior. Only six of the Gitanas were built this way, as we understand it; the rest all had racing interiors. She was however equipped for racing, and her winches, mast, etc, are big and strong.

Chamchela started her racing life as Spot-On, and even John Martin has done a turn or two on her (he was very complimentary!). We understand that she did the Cape to Rio race at least once, and was well known in South African racing circles.

She was then sold and taken to Zanzibar, Tanzania, where in 1986 her owner registered her in Guernsey (Channel Islands, British Ships Registry) and changed her name to suit the region (Chamchela is kiSwahili for a rushing wind or whirlwind). He chartered her around the islands of the East Coast of Africa for several years. She was also raced, including in the Dar es Salaam - Tanga race, which we have been told that she won at least once.

In early 1990 (?) her owner brought her to Durban to sell her, and in September 1990 we became her new owners. After a year in Durban we sailed her up to Richards Bay (doing the trip in 13 hours against a strong headwind - she sailed like a dream!).

We had planned to go voyaging within two years, after doing some renovations on her, but circumstances dictated otherwise, and due to two severe financial setbacks it wasn't until 2003 that we were able to begin the work in earnest. By then our children had grown and flown, and the size of the necessary renovations had, too! ... She had sat in the water for seven years, only having her bottom painted once during that time, so when we hauled her out we decided that although her osmosis was surface only, we wanted to be absolutely thorough -  so she was sanded right down and re-laminated, and her hull re-fibred.

We rebuilt her engine completely, as well as several other things, and stripped the interior of its varnish and veneer, replacing with paint and varnish. This has resulted in a much brighter, airier space down below. Much else was done, but we weren't able to complete everything we had planned due to an unexpected cancer operation eating into the funds.

We decided that if we waited till we were completely "ready" we would never leave! So we finally set sail at the end of July 2006, returning to port the same night after a steering cable block pulled away, and leaving again on 8 August. Destination: Mayotte, in the Comoros.

We had decided to sail directly to Mayotte, in one leg, straight down the Mocambique Channel, but we were becalmed for 10 days in the middle and in the end took 3 weeks to reach Dzaoudzi. We spent two months in Mayotte, with Jo recovering from a knee injury and Andrew doing general repairs, and then cruising around the island and reef, before upping anchor and heading for Kenya, where we hoped to find work. Jo managed another injury on the first night out, but we had a fantastic leg in spite of this.

Once in Kilifi we discovered it was impossible to find work legally - getting a permit was too expensive. We tried a great many avenues but even the NGOs didn't want us (!). So, very sadly, we had to lock up our boat and fly back to the UK.

If you're interested in purchasing, or in sharing ownership, please look at our Sale/Share Offer page.

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